Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 1001 – Financial Court Assembly
Out of the three of them, Jiang Shang would be in charge of the big picture, Kou Zhun would monitor the Imperial Court, while Yan Song would focus on the local areas.
The three of them would work together to ensure that the Great Xia machine would run smoothly. Ouyang Shuo, this ruler, would be above the Cabinet and monitor the dynasty.
…
22nd day, afternoon, Qingzheng Hall.
Jiang Shang, Kou Zhun, Yan Song, Xiao He, Wei Yang, Fan Li, and Du Ruhui had all gathered together to discuss the Financial Budget of Great Xia in the 5th year of Gaia.
Joining the meeting was Industrialization Department Director Chen Bingguang as well as Four Seas Bank Treasurer Meng Zhida.
Since the establishment of the dynasty, the management of Financial Budget had become more organized. At the start of the year, how much funds the dynasty had, what large expenditures there were, how much was the estimated income, and the like needed to be settled before the New Year.
At the end of the year, they had to evaluate the budget made at the start of the year.
Those who went over the budget would have to face the consequences.
“Let’s begin!”
Ouyang Shuo sat at the throne and said expressionlessly.
Ever since he ascended, Ouyang Shuo had rarely controlled the territory matters like he would do when he was a Lord.
Now, he only maintained the big picture, and the number of times he spoke was a lot fewer.
First, there were many things that did not need him to personally say. The officials would understand what he wanted and execute on it. Secondly, he was now a king, and any word he said would affect tens of millions of lives. Naturally, he had to be careful.
Seeing which, Jiang Shang stepped out and said, “Mister Fan, please report the expenditure of the Financial Court the previous year as well as the expenditure for this year.”
“Yes!”
Fan Li stepped out and reported, “Last year, the Imperial Court earned 65 million gold with tax and holding earnings being the main source. There was 51 million in tax and 8.5 million from the holdings.”
The holdings included the Four Seas Bank, Shu Mountain Iron Corporation, Chinese Shipping Group, and the like.
A day ago, under Ouyang Shuo’s instructions, the Industrialization Department combined cannon, armor, warship, and other forms of productions and formed a Canglong Military Work Corporation, which jumped to become the largest and most profitable corporation in Great Xia.
The Great Xia system was slowly changing. Slowly, it became the financial pillar of the Imperial Court.
“Financial expenditure was 61 million, 21 million on public facilities, 18.5 million on military, 12 million on administrative, five million on subsidies, and 4.5 million for others.”
The public expenditure included basic welfare, education, medical, basic facilities, and the like, which was why it took up the bulk of the expenditure.
Amongst the other expenditures, there was one that was special – the royal family expenditure.
The maintenance of the palace, court ladies, maidservants, Ouyang Shuo, Song Jia, Bing’er’s expenditure, and the like.
Listing the royal family into it meant that Ouyang Shuo was not going to set up private funds outside of the country treasury.
In history, the imperial family and treasury funds were separate. The treasury kept taxes agriculture profits, and the like, while the imperial family funds were from tea, salt, silk, and the like.
In comparison, Great Xia had made public the sales of silk, tea leaves, and good salt. Along with the ore contract with Australia, their control of ores was also loosening.
The imperial family funds were used to feed the royal family. Usually, there would be excess funds that would be passed to the national treasury.
Of course, there were times where it was lacking.
Especially the later stages of the dynasty, where the royal family was huge. At such a time, they would be like termites corroding the foundations of the dynasty.
Each time the palace was renovated, it would use up ocean amounts of gold.
During the Ming Jiajing time, one palace fire used up seven million silver teals, using up half of their income that year.
The treasury was used to pay salary, fix roads, build bridges, irrigation, and the like. When there were catastrophes, they would use these funds to provide help. Of course, there were some rulers who used the national treasury as their own.
At the later stages of the Ming Dynasty, such acts became prevalent. The rulers did as they wished, allowing officials to take money from the people and rip them off.
Some emperors were even as corrupt as the officials, splitting the funds with them and using the money as their own.
Although such actions fattened the coffers of the royal family, it made the lives of the people tough.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo wanted to prevent this from happening right from the start.
The royal family, apart from using the gold that was assigned to them by the Financial Court, also had other sources of income.
First, there would be the jewels that Ouyang Shuo found when he went explorations, a portion of which would be left for the treasury. Secondly, Song Jia held control over the Mountain and Seas Entertainment Holdings, which produced a sizeable income each year.
With these two sources of income, since the royal family only had three people, Ouyang Shuo naturally could not spend all the money in his treasury. Furthermore, Ouyang Shuo was a thrifty king. Apart from during important occasions, he would not splurge.
As they say, set a good example.
Ouyang Shuo as the king was thrifty. Naturally, the people under him would not dare to splurge excessively.
…
After deducting the expenditure, after a year, the Imperial Court only had four million gold in excess.
Of course, to the outside world, Great Xia had millions of troops, so starting three to four wars in a year and still being profitable was a great achievement.
On a global scale, more than half of the territories were running a deficit and could only barely maintain operations by raising taxes of borrowing.
After the 5th system update, the reduction of building speed, the catastrophe system, the smarter civilians, and the like would make the 5th year of Gaia more unbearable.
If one was not careful, they might lose all that they had built up.
The Yanhuang Alliance had lost a few successive wars, and their foundations were lost. Luckily, they had opened up trade with North America. Using their business talents, they could rise up from the dead quickly.
The four million gold that Di Chen spent during the auction was probably from his family’s pockets. With the financial situation of Handan City, they definitely could not take out such a sum of money.
Speaking about the financial situation of last year, Fan Li continued, “Based on our analysis, there are four good things in the 5th year. First, the four new provinces after being organized can greatly increase tax returns. Secondly, the Canglong Military Works Group is slowly getting on the right path and will bring in sizeable profits.”
“Thirdly, with the start of the industrialization process, workshops are becoming more efficient, causing a rise in sales tax. Fourthly, the trade agreements would promote voyage trading and increase checkpoint taxes.”
“Calculating all of that, the Financial Court estimates that we can gain 95 million in profits, and we might even break the 100 million mark.”
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, he was astonished, as a 46% increase was shocking. However, that came after the expansion of the empire, and it was not internal growth. As a result, it would not be long term.
Thinking about the few huge wars in the 5th year, the Imperial Court finances would not be relaxed.
When Jiang Shang saw that, he smiled, “Although the budget for next year is optimistic, the expenditure will also reach a new level. What big projects do the four courts have, let’s discuss!”
He naturally took note of every action of the king.
The moment Jiang Shang finished his words, Administration Minister Xiao He was the first to step out.
Out of the public works, apart from the basic welfare that was handled by the Civil Affairs Department, the rest was handle by the Administration Court. Along with the administration expenditure that took up a big amount, this court had the greatest percentage of funds used in the dynasty, even exceeding that of the Privy Court.
On the surface, it also did not make any direct financial contributions.
As a result, it was easy to understand how much pressure Xiao He was feeling, “This year the Science, Education, Culture, and Health Department wants to push out basic education and health facilities in the four provinces. The Agriculture Department wants to increase irrigation, the Construction Department wants to expand the road networks, so the public works budget would need a four million increase from last year’s amount.”
Ouyang Shuo asked, “Did the Administration Court send people to ask about the construction statuses of the four provinces?”
“Yes. Overall, their foundations are pretty good. However, because it was not unified, we need to replant it such that it becomes a part of the system. Some of the construction standards also needs to meet the current Imperial Court ones.”
“Tell Jia Sixie to organize the people to get the irrigation done before the New Year. If possible, reclaim more farmland in the counties and prefectures. Do not waste land.”
“Yes my king!” Xiao He hurriedly answered.
For the king to personally instruct this matter meant that he had his reasons, and Xiao He obviously needed to pay close attention to it.
Ouyang Shuo thought back to the catastrophe system and wanted the Agriculture Department to prepare for it.
Along with industrialization speeding up and businesses prospering, more and more people were thrown into industries, causing a huge problem. Those who were in agriculture production had lessened.
With the backward agriculture techniques of the past, to ensure that the supply of grain was enough, one needed to have a sustainable amount of farmland and enough farmers.
Without pesticide, fertilizers, and the like, there would definitely be no miracles to greatly increase yield. Hence, the only way would be to throw in more farmers to work the fields.
Hence, in agriculture, business, and industry, one needed to think of them as a big picture.
